I haven't seen Sum 41 live in about 7 months and that feels like forever, so I made the (much longer than I thought) trip to Long Island to catch them on the We Will Detonate! Tour with Chapel, Emarosa and Pierce the Veil.

Chapel is a new group out of Georgia whose tunes are so refreshing and catchy that you're begging for more than the three songs they have released so far. Although only a two piece, the pop/alternative hybrid fill out a whole stage with the presence and energy of a full band.

I'm always in awe whenever I get to see Emarosa, truly a band that will put their whole being into the performances. From the start of set, Bradley jumped right into, not the barricade, but into the entire crowd. Nothing much like it.

Sum 41 has treated me like family since the day we met, and this show was no exception...letting me run around the venue, take their portraits and climb on top of Frank's drum riser like I had been there the whole tour. Always incredibly grateful for kindness, hospitality and the opportunity to see them perform. I don't know how they do it. They just returned from playing two festivals back to back and then went right back into tour that night in Huntington, which also happened to be a hometown show for their drummer Frank.

Finally, Pierce the Veil. A personal favorite and one of the first bands I ever got into in this scene. Plus, they are also San Diego natives, like me. They went all out on production for this. The curtain dropped and a mysterious "ape" runs on stage and sets it off the "TNT" and cryo bursts from the stage. The video wall depicted a lot of the themes and lyrics from their songs. And I decided to have some fun and jumped in the circle pit for a bit, you know, gotta make the most of it!